QUICK TO bounce back after their opening day defeat, the Ateneo Blue Eagles showcased mastery of the diamond, triumphing over the Adamson University (AdU) Soaring Falcons in dramatic fashion, 18-14. The match was held earlier today, March 1, at the Rizal Memorial Baseball Stadium in the City of Manila.
With this win, the Ateneo Baseball Team (ABT) moved to 1-1 in their University Athletic Association of the Philippines Season 88 campaign, tied with the Soaring Falcons for third place.
The Blue Eagles showcased a new-look rotation different from their opener last Wednesday, which now featured both Co-Captains Joshua De Juras and Bop Bernardo in the starting lineup.
To start the first inning, the Blue and White nearly got on base from powerful swings by Waji Magsadia and De Juras which were narrowly caught by AdU’s outfield. On the opposite end of the inning, the Katipunan-based squad found trouble as a series of errors and sacrifice flies placed them at an 0-2 margin.
Unshaken from the deficit, the Blue Eagles unleashed one of the best offensive displays seen in the last few years. The three-headed monster of Bernardo, Dax Fabella, and Mickey Osorio capitalized on the Soaring Falcons’ erratic pitching, putting the Blue Eagles in a bases loaded situation. Breaking the chain was Joaquin Mariano, whose long single led to Fabella and Bernardo scoring Ateneo’s first runs, 2-2. From then on, the nine-man rotation for the Blue Eagles caught on fire, sending in long-range hits that scattered the Soaring Falcons defense.
The barrage was highlighted by rookie Dale Prades, who achieved a triple that sent Magsadia and De Juras coming home with their sixth and seventh score, 7-2. Despite Adamson bringing in a new pitcher, Bernardo and Mariano sneaked in two more runs before Magsadia was ultimately sent out on an errant swing, ending the top of the inning, 11-2. On the other end of the second frame, Ateneo denied their opposition from even reaching third base, keeping the score at a suffocating distance.
Third inning action saw a fatigued Blue and White squad failing to get on base. A sequence of wild pitching on the bottom of the frame by Ateneo allowed AdU to chip into the lead by two runs, 4-11.
At the onset of the fourth inning, the Blue Eagles’ offense was reignited with Osorio scoring from a passed ball courtesy of the Soaring Falcons’ miscommunication. Magsadia followed the offensive display, sending a long single down the right side of the stadium that brought Bernardo and Aleck Ferrolino home, 14-4. The bottom half of the frame found Lucas Atendido keeping the Blue and White ahead with an incredible pitching display to deny Adamson any runs.
After adding no runs in the top of the fifth inning, the Blue Eagles struggled to contain the Adamson offense in the bottom half of the inning. After Adamson’s Lawrence Mercado and Christian Bacarisas both drove in runs off dribbling singles, a monstrous triple from John Tupig cut the Blue Eagle lead further, 14-8. In need of a defensive play to end, third baseman Mikaelo Osorio zipped the ball to first base, finally capping the inning.
However, the Katipunan-based unit once again came up dry at the end of the top of the sixth inning, as Adamson pitcher Christian Basan continued his onslaught on the mound.
Unable to quell the Falcon momentum, a home run delivered by Kier Plaza brought the Blue Eagle advantage down to four at the end of the sixth inning, 14-10. Unable to tack on more runs in the seventh inning, Ateneo saw their once nine-run lead dwindle down to two, with Adamson’s Mark Simbajon driving two runners in, 14-12.
Desperately trying to turn the momentum back around, the Blue Eagles substituted Kairo Cueto to take over on the mound, and the pitcher quickly ended the 7th inning keeping his squad’s lead intact.
Following another scoreless top of the eighth inning, the Blue Eagles found themselves in a tough spot, as the Soaring Falcons loaded all the bases with just one out in the bottom of the eighth. Although the Blue and White were able to force a second out, a well-placed single from Soaring Falcon Simbajon tacked on two more runs to tie the match at the end of eighth inning, 14-all.
Struggling from the fifth to the eighth inning of the tied contest, the Ateneo offense came to life at the onset of the ninth frame. With Tueres, Ferrolino, and De Juras loading the bases, a wild pitch from Basan proved to be a crucial error for the side of Adamson, as Ateneo re-established a three-run lead, 17-14. Another passed ball tacked on one more run, 18-14, before Osorio’s flyout closed the top half of the ninth inning.
Eager to put an end to the rollercoaster match, Osorio took the mound in search of three final outs to put the Blue Eagles in the win column. In dominant fashion, the Blue Eagle ace recorded three strikeouts in the ninth inning to close out the match in his team’s favor, 18-14.
Hoping to ride their new-found momentum, The Blue and White will look for their second win in a row in their match against the De La Salle University (DLSU) Green Batters on Wednesday, March 4, at 2:00 PM in the same venue.
The Lines:
Ateneo (18): 0 11 0 3 0 0 0 0 4 – 18 11 9
AdU (14): 2 0 2 0 4 2 2 2 0 – 14 12 4
Current Standings (W-L):
- NU Bulldogs (2-0)
- DLSU Green Batters (2-0)
- ATENEO Blue Eagles (1-1)
- AdU Soaring Falcons (1-1)
- UST Golden Sox (0-2)
- UP Fighting Maroons (0-2)
